VILLAGERS are being given a chance to have their say on proposals for an 85-bedroomed hotel at a golf club.

Tarporley Parish Council has arranged a public meeting to discuss plans by Macdonald Hotels Plc at Portal Golf and Country Club, Cobblers Cross Lane, Tarporley.

Portal Golf Club wishes to enter into a joint arrangement with Macdonald Hotels because it wants accommodation on site to compete with the likes of Carden Park.

The original proposals, for a hotel with up to 155 bedrooms, were revised after the plans were withdrawn because of a hostile reception due to worries about its scale and impact on local roads.

Parish clerk John Macdonald said: 'The meeting will open with a short presentation on the revised plan by a representative of the developer and comments on the planning aspects by the planning authority [Vale Royal Borough Council] and highway aspects by the highway authority [Cheshire County Council].

'There will then be an opportunity for supporters and objectors who have made prior contact with the clerk to make short statements and ask questions. This will be followed by open discussion.

'Supporters or objectors with like-minded views should endeavour to form a group and select a spokesperson prior to the meeting.'

Parish chairman Helen Watson has seen the detailed plans but is urging everyone to attend the meeting.

She said: 'The scheme will be smaller and hopefully they will have done their homework better this time. There were traffic surveys that were not completed and stuff like that.

'The last plan I saw would have been overwhelming for the village.'

Some companies which arrange golfing events and conferences prefer everything on one site. Portal feels it needs to enter into a joint arrangement with Macdonald Hotels in order to retain its client base.

The club believes having everything on one site would reduce the amount of traffic on roads and help prevent drink-driving. It also says the development would also be a boost for local employment prospects.

No one from Portal was prepared to give an official comment. No one from West Lothian-based Macdonald Hotels was available for comment.

The meeting is at Tarporley Community Centre on Wednesday, September 8, from 7pm. The revised plans should be available to view, and beforehand at Vale Royal One Stop Shop at Wyvern House, Winsford.